2 killed in Schuylkill Expressway accident ID'd

(Updated at 4:37 p.m.) The two men killed when a motorcyclist struck a pedestrian along Interstate 76 Tuesday morning have been identified.

Arnold Khemdy, 20, of North Wales, was identified as the pedestrian and Hour Song Chheng, 40, of Philadelphia, was identified as the motorcycle rider, police said.

Khemdy reportedly lost control of his car on the ramp from Interstate 476 to I-76 east and crashed into a guardrail, police said. He left the scene of the accident on foot and was walking in the right lane of I-76 near mile marker 333, less than a mile from the on-ramp, when Chheng, who was traveling with a group of motorcyclists, hit Khemdy from behind around 1 a.m., police said.

Khemdy was thrown onto the right shoulder of I-76 east as the result of the crash, police said.

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Chheng lost control of his motorcycle after striking Khemdy and was thrown from the bike, police said.

Both men died at the scene, police said.

Police said another vehicle on the highway may have struck Chheng after he was thrown from his motorcycle, but did not contribute to his death.

The eastbound lanes of I-76 were shut down for five hours while the crash was investigated and cleared.

EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORY

A man walking on the Schuylkill Expressway Tuesday morning was struck by a motorcycle, the crash killing both pedestrian and driver, police said. The incident shut down the busy expressway for five hours.

Police said the pedestrian was involved in another accident on the on-ramp to the Schuylkill Expressway from the Blue Route. Why he was walking on the expressway is not yet known.

It is believed the motorcycle driver was thrown from his bike onto the road. He was then fatally struck by another vehicle.

Officials said the crash occurred about 1 a.m. and closed all lanes eastbound at Route 23. The expressway reopened just before 6 a.m.

Some motorists had been stranded on the expressway for hours.

Westbound traffic on the Schuylkill going out of the city was not affected.

The multi-vehicle crash occurred in the eastbound lanes of I-76 (the Schuylkill) just before the Conshohocken Curve in Lower Merion Township.

The closure went from the Blue Route (I-476) to the the Gladwyne Exit. Entrances from Conshohocken to the Blue Route and Schuylkill Expressway were closed for nearly four hours.

The closure backed up traffic along alternate routes including Conshohocken State Road (Route 23) and Ridge Pike.